METAVIVOR - #dontignorestageIV
Donation protected
It was the color of the sky the morning I was told "you have breast cancer". It was the color of a room that belonged to no one, the color of sadness, the color of wanting something that was already gone. The face I wore after that moment wasn't mine, and for the rest of my life I would have to grow into that face...
Hello, my name is Richelle and I wrote that just hours after my diagnosis taking some from a book I was currently reading, it must have been fate. Seven years ago on May 31, 2007, I was diagnosed with Stage II breast cancer and lost my right breast. Needless to say the struggle with losing a part of you that makes you a woman is very trying, both physically and emotionally. Surgery, chemo and radiation went well I was still able to work through the miserable days and months and I was "cancer free" for 2 years .
In 2011, after a routine PET scan, I received a call (YES a phone call gave me this devastating news!) from my oncologist informing me that the scan came back positive and I was now in Stage IV with the cancer metastasizing to my bones and if that wasn't enough I now had an additional separate cancer in my left breast that was Stage I. I was given a 2% chance of surviving 10 years and was told I would NEVER be cancer free again. My first thought was of my children who were 13 and 14. I was all they had! They had just started their crucial teen years and I haven't finished teaching them how to become compassionate responsible adults.
On to more rounds of surgery, chemo & radiation which has taken a lot of life out of me physically and has left me with "chemo brain". I am no longer able to work in my lifelong career or any full time job due to being sick over half of each month as I receive IV treatments every 3 weeks.
5 years ago I was the one volunteering in all facets of American Cancer Society and today I am the one who needs the help. I have a 2 hour round trip to my cancer center several times per month. I am at a place in my life where I am not sure if tomorrow will be there and I have accepted that but never never give up hope. It is just surviving that is my biggest struggle right now.
God bless you and thank you for reading my story.
Hello, my name is Richelle and I wrote that just hours after my diagnosis taking some from a book I was currently reading, it must have been fate. Seven years ago on May 31, 2007, I was diagnosed with Stage II breast cancer and lost my right breast. Needless to say the struggle with losing a part of you that makes you a woman is very trying, both physically and emotionally. Surgery, chemo and radiation went well I was still able to work through the miserable days and months and I was "cancer free" for 2 years .
In 2011, after a routine PET scan, I received a call (YES a phone call gave me this devastating news!) from my oncologist informing me that the scan came back positive and I was now in Stage IV with the cancer metastasizing to my bones and if that wasn't enough I now had an additional separate cancer in my left breast that was Stage I. I was given a 2% chance of surviving 10 years and was told I would NEVER be cancer free again. My first thought was of my children who were 13 and 14. I was all they had! They had just started their crucial teen years and I haven't finished teaching them how to become compassionate responsible adults.
On to more rounds of surgery, chemo & radiation which has taken a lot of life out of me physically and has left me with "chemo brain". I am no longer able to work in my lifelong career or any full time job due to being sick over half of each month as I receive IV treatments every 3 weeks.
5 years ago I was the one volunteering in all facets of American Cancer Society and today I am the one who needs the help. I have a 2 hour round trip to my cancer center several times per month. I am at a place in my life where I am not sure if tomorrow will be there and I have accepted that but never never give up hope. It is just surviving that is my biggest struggle right now.
God bless you and thank you for reading my story.
Organizer
Shelly Cornella
Organizer
Racine, WI
